BIBFRAME Work

Title

Instrument of war

Other Titles (e.g. Variant)

Music and the making of America's soldiers

Type

  • Text
  • Monograph

Contribution

Subject

Language

Illustrative Content

Classification

Content

Supplementary content

Summary

"David Suisman shows that the US military has deep and multilayered investment in music. It employs thousands of musicians, whose music creates communal norms and identities. Music also helps soldiers to grapple with the realities of combat, while serving as a weapon in its own right, at places like Guantánamo Bay. Suisman calls music "a lubricant in the gears of the American war machine," and he ably shows how its elemental qualities have been used and transformed, much as the military itself has, by technology and by changing understandings of the self. Today's soldiers may still stand for reveille, but they also cultivate Spotify lists to fly drones by"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

Prologue : making music, making war -- A great and secret power -- Music, race, empire -- Music and guns go hand in hand -- The best-entertained soldier in the world -- The powers of song -- Demythologizing the rock-and-roll war -- Shoot to thrill -- Coda : seven elegies.

Authorized Access Point

Suisman, David. Instrument of war

Geographic Coverage

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11T20:13:26.264473+00:00
  • Agent: cbc
  • Status: c
  • Derived from: 23639760

Admin Metadata

  • Date: 2026-09-11
  • Cataloger id: Unknown
  • Description level: http://id.loc.gov/ontologies/bibframe-2-6-0/
  • Description language: eng
  • Description authentication: pcc

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